Pivoted lever bottle cap remover



April 15, 1952 E. GEDDE PIVOTED LEVER BOTTLE CAP REMOVER Filed April 8, 1947 lug IN VEN TOR. Zia/ 'eda Patented Apr. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIVOTED LEVER BOTTLE CAP REMOVER Erik Gedde, Chicago, Ill.

Application April 8,1947,\Serial No. 740,072-

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to bottle openers and more specifically to a novel and improved device adapted to remove crown seal caps of the type now ordinarily used as closures for beer bottles and the narrow necked beverage bottles.

The applicant is aware that many and various types of openers have been devised to remove these caps, but so far as is known most of these serve only as a tool to grip and hold the cap so that the cap may be forced oil of the neck of the bottle moving the tool relative to the bottle.

It is the primary object of the present invention, however, to provide a novel bottle opener for removing crown seal caps wherein the opener may be operated with one hand only, yet will quickly and easily remove the cap from the bottle without need of grasping the bottle and without the necessity of twisting or lifting the opener with respect to the bottle. That is, the opener here disclosed will remove the cap by contact with the cap only, so that one handed operation is accomplished even with an unmounted opener and so that agitation of the contents of thebottle during the opening is avoided.

A. further object of the invention resides in the provision of a bottle opener for crown seal caps including means to form a crease diametrically across the top of the cap, together with instrumentalities to lift the opposite edges of the crimped flange of the cap upwardly and thus fold the cap on the line of the crease.

The foregoing objects are accomplished in this invention by the provision of a small opening device in the general form of a pair of pliers, with jaws to engage the bottle cap and a pair of handles that may be gripped in one hand, so that the device is operated by closing the handles together to deform the cap in a manner to free it from its crimped engagement on the head of the bottle neck. The physical embodiments of the invention may be varied within wide limits without departing from the teachings here set out, but a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated in the drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the opener constructed according to the principles of this invention, the opener being illustrated in operating position with respect to a cap and bottle.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view similar to Figure 3, showing the initial action of the opener and Figure 5 is a detail section of the view similar to Figure 3, showing the final function of the opener.

The general structure of the opener resembles a pair of pliers havingopposed jaws and a pair of handles pivoted together on a rivet l2. Asshown, the structure is of sheet metal with the upper handle l3, of inverted Ll-shaped cross section to provide opposite walls l4 and I5 thru which the rivet I2 extends. The walls l4 and I5 are .each

formed outwardly to terminate in straight side jaws l5 and l'l. If desired, reinforcing beads i8 and 19 may be formed on the jaws to give greater rigidity to themetal. The jaws lBand I! are spaced apart slightly less than the maximum diameter of a standard bottle cap so that their upper ends will fit under and engage the lower edge of the crimped flange 21 of the cap, and it is considered desirable that the jaws l6 and ll be angularly positioned so that their lower edges spread outwardly to give ample clearance around the bottle neck. The upper surface of the jaws may be straight or convexly curved. The lower handle 22 of the opener is also of pressed sheet metal formed to include a u-shaped grip portion and pivoted on the rivet l2. The upper jaw 23 of the opener is an integral part of the handle 22 and may include a reinforcing bead 24 to increase its rigidity. The jaw 23 has a sharp V-shaped lower edge 25, adapted to engage the convex crown 26 of the cap across its entire diameter. The edge 25 may be convex, but extends straight across the cap. In operation, the opener is applied to a bottle cap by positioning the lower jaws l6 and I! immediately under the crimped flange of the cap and squeezing the handles 22 and is together to remove the cap from the bottle. It will be apparent from an examination of Figures 3 to 5 that the functioning of this type of opener is different from previous types which merely grip the cap and lift one side of the crimped flange to force the cap free of the bottle. In contrast, the present opener functions by first forming a crease in the crown of the cap diametrically across its center, and then lifting upwardly on the crimping flange 2| at two points located on opposite sides of the crease. This action breaks the seal of the cap and folds its opposite sides upwardly into a general V-shape.

(Figure 5).-This manner of operation eifectively lifts the opposite sides of the cap from engagement with the bead of the bottle, and experience shows that since the flange 2| of the cap is flared outwardly around its entire circumference, the folding of the cap to the position shown will cause even the center portions of the 3 flange directly below the edge 25 to spring outwardly enough to completely free the cap from the bead. The cap is still held in the jaws, however, so that it may be lifted from the bottle and dropped into any convenient receptacle.

It will be apparent from theabove that an opener constructed in accordance with these teachings can be used without agitating the contents of the bottle and, consequently, without any tendency to cause undesirable foaming as bottles of carbonated liquid are opened. In addition, the implement can be used with one hand only and without requiring any type of wall mounting. It is thus unnecessary to grasp the bottle in order to remove its cap, and there is no need to twist the opener and bottle relative to each other. The entire operation is accomplished without using the bottle as a lever, since it acts by the function of the jaws alone.

The form of the invention illustrated in the drawings and described herein is the present preferred embodiment of these teachings, but it is recognized that certain departures may be made from the exact structure shown without sacrifice of all of the advantages therein. It is accordingly pointed out that the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact construction and arrangements of parts shown in the drawings, but extends to any variations or modifications coming within the terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by the United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a bottle opener for bottle closures having a convexly crowned center portion and a downwardly extending crimped flange, the combination of means for creasing the crowned portion of the cap diametrically across its center, said means including an upper jaw with a straight relatively sharp lower edge adapted to engage the crown of the cap; means for simultaneously lifting the flange of the cap at two points on opposite sides of the crease, said means comprising a pair of jaws below and parallel with said upper jaw and spaced apart from each other to engage the opposite sides of the cap flange at diametrically opposed points; and a pair of cross pivoted handles attached to and supporting said jaws for simultaneously forcing all of said jaws into engagement with the cap.

2. In a bottle opener for bottle closures having a convexly crowned center portion and a downwardly extending crimped flange, the combination of means for creasing the crowned portion of the cap diametrically across its center, said means including an upper jaw with a relatively sharp lower edge adapted to engage the crown of the cap; means for simultaneously lifting the flange of the cap at two points on opposite sides of the crease, said means comprising a pair of jaws spaced a fixed distance apart from each other to engage the opposite sides of the cap flange at diametrically opposite points; said jaws 7 being pivoted to the first-mentioned jaw and having their inner surfaces tapered outwardly and downwardly with respect to each other to provide clearance around the bottle neck below the cap; together with means for simultaneously forcing all of said jaws into engagement with the cap.

4 ERIK GEDDE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 692,045 Bacon Jan. 28, 1902 753,048 Des Moineaux Feb. 23, 1904 762,691 Corrigan June 14, 1904 1,040,564 Merrill Oct. 8, 1912 1,240,657 Bolick Sept. 18, 1917 1,248,923 Ryczek Dec. 4, 1917 1,376,994 Arnold May 3, 1921 1,570,708 Roush Jan. 26, 1926 1,784,018 McNabb et al. Dec. 9, 1930 

